


CHASING REFLECTION

by caratsfiction



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: M/M, Magic Mirrors
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-29
Updated: 2017-01-29
Packaged: 2018-09-20 16:02:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9499355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caratsfiction/pseuds/caratsfiction
Summary: What will you do if every time you look at the mirror and the reflection you see is someone else's?Choi Seungcheol realized that his reflection became someone else's who he didn't even know. He asked for help from his friends to find out what happened...[Choi Seungcheol as  highschool student and Yoon Jeonghan as an art major college student]





	

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [CHASING REFLECTION](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/260297) by caratsfiction. 



> Originaly posted as Indonesian fanfiction under the same title, but some of my friends requested me to translate into English.
> 
> I'm not even sure either because I've been writing fanfiction with my own language all my life.
> 
> So, this is my first try.
> 
> It's gonna take longer take considering my real-life work and also my hobby editing manips.
> 
> Hopefully, you can all enjoy.
> 
> Comments, suggestions or anything are accepted.
> 
> Again, thank you very much for supporting.
> 
> Please spread Jeongcheol love.
> 
>  

His running hastened, breathing heavily, Choi Seungcheol tried to pass the school gate before it was closed. He didn't want to be late on Monday. Everybody knew that the Hyongu High School never tolerated tardiness especially on Monday. Running ten to twenty laps was the punishment. That was not the only punishment—they who were late, were also asked to write an essay with the topic assigned by teachers or probably the headmaster.

"FIVE!" Apparently, Seo Dalsoo—the headmaster—was the one responsible for that day punishment. He counted backward while slowly closing the school gate.

Seungcheol fastened his pace. He cursed the long pathway to his school.

"FOUR!"

Dammit!, Seungcheol cursed again. Some students abruptly stopped to tie their shoelaces. He thanked God he didn't trip.

"THREE, TWO!"

He finally tripped after bumping into two students. Fell down, almost punched those punks, but suddenly realized he was in a rush.

"ONE!" The headmaster blew his annoying whistle and the gate was slowly closing.

Just one more step! Seungcheol slightly moved his body in between the gate and the wall before the gate was fully closed. Just how unlucky he was when Mr. Seo tried to stop him to come inside the school. He and Mr. Seo collided and in a split of second Seungcheol was on top of Mr. Seo's body.

This was supposedly a romantic scene in the drama, but it turned out to be so horrible. Seungcheol didn't have the guts to see Mr. So right in the eyes. He was too afraid.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Hysterically, Mr. Seo blew his whistle thousand times. 

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Seo. I didn't mean to."

He stood up and held his hand out to help Mr. Seo. And he knew all of his friends had already taken some pictures of him and Mr. Seo in the so-called romantic position.

After this, the photos were going to be the hottest topic among students. If he wasn't lucky then the photos or video were going to be spread on the internet.

"Nice position." One of the students mocked him. Seungcheol showed his middle finger to him.

Mr. Seo was so pissed. He shouted and endlessly blew his whistle, "ERASE THAT PHOTOS AND GIVE ME YOUR GODDAMN PHONES!

Seungcheol guessed some of them weren't that stupid and already put the password or probably hid the photos inside super secret folders on their phone.

Two teachers helped the Mr. SEO to take their phones away and gave them the punishment they deserved--running ten to twenty laps. Seungcheol didn't dare to say anything. He was hoping Mr. Seo was nice enough to free him from the punishment. It was already an embarrassement to be put in such position in front of his friends.

"And you!" Mr. Seo pointed at him. He gulped, "Go to my office. Now!"

Fuck.

***

He was bored waiting for nothingness in the Headmaster's office. From the window, he could see other students were running around the school field as their punishment. He should be thankful for not getting a physical punishment, but no, he wasn't. He'd rather run for thousands times than sit there and waited for Mr. Seo changing his clothes just because Seungcheol fell on top of him. Seungcheol wasn't a dirt. Why would Mr. Seo change his clothes, though?

He huffed, then checked his phone that had been vibrating since the awful event that morning. He bet he got hundreds of notifications. He didn't know what happened yet. Until Seungkwan, his best friend, sent him a photo of him with Mr. Seo.

From : Seungkwan  
Message : You're so disgusting. Single doesn't mean you had to do THAT with that bald-headmaster!

He was speechles. He didn't even know how to react.

To : Seungkwan  
Message : You jerk! It was an accident.

From : Seungkwan  
Message : But the video has been spread all over Chan's Vine and also on Twitter. I might have mentioned your name too. Oops.

If Seungcheol hadn't waited in the Headmaster office, Seungkwan would have been died in his hand.

To : Seungkwan  
Message : What kind of bestfriend are you, huh? You weren't helping but just made it worse.

From : Seungkwan  
Message : Cheol-ah, it’s rare to see this kind of entertainment. We’re blessed.

To : Seungkwan  
Message : Damn you.

When he heard someone opened the door, he put his phone inside his pocket. He didn’t want his phone to be confiscated by Mr. Seo. The headmaster just came in—it seems he forgot that Seungcheol had been there all the time. Seungcheol slightly bowed towards him.

“Forgive me, Mr. Seo. I didn’t want to be late, but I never thought that I would-”

The older man held his hand up, trying to stop Seungcheol from explaining further, “Enough. I don’t want to hear anything from you. Sit.”

He sat and kept his mouth shut. Mr. so also sat in his leather chair. His petite body sank into it, covered by the desk and all Seungcheol could see was the headmaster’s face.

 

“What’s your name again?”

“Choi Seungcheol. Class 3-C, second seat from the back, third from the window and-”

“Stop, just stop. Is it your habit to speak like this?”

Seungcheol shook his head nervously, “I’m sorry.”

Who wouldn’t be nervous talking to the headmaster? Besides, he was known for his cold and firm attitude toward the students. Even though some said that Mr. Seo looked cute based on his appearance, but nothing’s adorable from his personality. It was also difficult for that man to befriend with teachers and school staffs. Every time he walked, there would be dark cloud surrounding him.

“I should’ve given you worse punishment, but I’ve been monitoring you for a while through those CCTVs,” Mr. Seo pointed to two CCTVs near the door and his desk. Seungcheol shivered, “.... I could say that you aren’t that annoying, because I think you would’ve walked around my room out of curiosity, right?”

Seungcheol gulped, “I wouldn’t dare to do that, Sir.”

“Hmm, that’s great. So, as the punishment, you only have to wait in this room until some people come here to put my antique goods.”

“Wha...t?” It was worse than running twenty laps on the field, “So until when I should wait here?”

Mr. Seo just shrugged, “I don’t know. The delivery service should be here by ten, but I’ll have a meeting with teachers and staffs. So now it’s your responsibility to wait for my antique goods. That’s such an important task, for your information.”

Seungcheol was so pissed. Mr. Seo must have seen the change of his expression because he asked, “Is there something wrong?” Probably just to make sure that Seungcheol agreed to this task.

“No, Sir. I feel honored to have this task.” Oh sure, he wasn’t as honored as he said.

Mr. Seo looked content, “Good. Then let me ask for permission to your teacher. You know Seungcheol, this task is like being given by the President. Understood?”

Seungcheol had no choice.

***

“Psst! Psst!”

Seungcheol looked around to find where the whisper came from.

“Psst! Seungcheol! Psst!”

Seungkwan’s head peeped from the door. He smirked to Seungcheol.

“What are you doing here? Do you want to be punished, too?” Seungcheol tried not to talk too loud, since he was worried that those CCTVs also could detect his voice.

Seungkwan checked his wristwatch, counting on something and then calmly walked into the room. Seungcheol panickly stood up to stop Seungkwan from moving further, but it was too late. Seungkwan was already inside the room.

“What the hell! You can’t be here! What if Mr. Seo sees you through the CCTV?

“Relax. I already asked Jisoo to hack the CCTVs and shut them down for ten minutes.”

“Seriously?”

Hong Jisoo, their classmate, was an IT genius, especially in hacking matter. When he was fifteen, police officers had asked him for help to catch a kidnapper and because of his help, no one died.

“I brought you some juice. I know you’re thirsty.”

Seungcheol seemed so happy receiving a can of juice from Seungkwan, “Thanks so much! You’re such a great friend!”

“Last time I checked, you called me jerk.”

“Jerk is your nickname, isn’t it?” Seungcheol stuck his tongue out before he finished all his drink.

“Damn you.” Seungkwan took the empty can from the latter and brought it with him. If Seungcheol threw out the empty can in Mr. Seo’s rubbish bin, the older man would definitely suspect Seungcheol.

“Thanks, Seungkwan. By the way, what happened to the video of me and Mr. Seo?” Suddenly he remembered that morning’s event.

His best friend laughed hysterically, “That video is already all over the internet! Other schools have seen it, too. I never thought that it’s gonna get great responses. Mr. Seo is actually famous in other schools, you know. Even better, someone made the remix version of it.” Seungkwan showed his Twitter’s timeline to Seungcheol, “They also made a hashtag for both of you #SeoCheol. Be proud. You have an OTP name already.”

“Shut up, Seungkwan!” How come people shipped him and Mr. Seo? They both weren’t even a One True Pair.

Seungkwan thanked Seungcheol for giving him the best entertainment ever, before bid him goodbye and went out of the room. Having Seungkwan as his best friend was an actual blessing in disguise. He would help Seungcheol whenever he needed help, but also would mock him endlessly, especially if Seungcheol did something dumb.

 

***

Eleven past thirteen minutes, after long and tiring wait under the surveillance, finally Mr. Seo’s antique goods have come. Two people in uniform asked Seungcheol for permission to put those goods in the room.

Aside from being famous with his cold personality, Mr. Seo was known for his hobby of collecting antiques. Not only in his office, he also collected antique goods at his house. He would regularly renew his collection every several months. This time, he ordered a full body-length mirror, an antique vase and a lamp.

When Seungcheol was asked where the goods could be put, he panicked. He was afraid to make mistake by putting them in wrong place, but in the end he had to do it.

“Please put the vase on that small table, the lamp on this desk,” He pointed out two different tables that were usually used by Mr. Seo to put his documents.

“And the mirror?”

Seungcheol’s attention was on the mirror with handcrafted wooden frame surrounding it. It showed his clear reflection, as if he saw the twin of himself. It hypnotized him, made him lose his focus for a split of second until he heard his name was called. He snapped back to reality.

“Yeah?” he said, “Uhm, sorry I didn’t hear you.”

“Where should we put the mirror?” The man asked him once more.

“There.” Seungcheol gestured them to move the mirror beside the window, “I’ll move it later just in case Mr. Seo doesn’t approve it.”

That was the second time Seungcheol lose his focus because of the mirror. The man tapped his shoulder and handed him the receipt that he had to sign. Seungcheol apologized for not paying attention.

Instead of going back to the class, Seungcheol stayed there for a while. He stared blankly into the mirror for it seemed like eternity. His fingers touched the mirror. The reflection was so real. No word could describe how real it was.

He tilted his head, worried that his reflection didn’t move the way he did. Apparently not. It was just an ordinary mirror with beautiful wooden carved-frame. Nothing special about it.

“What is happening with me? Why am I still here?” He scratched his head and then walked to the door. 

He stopped before his hand reached the door knob. He hesitated. The urge to stay in the room was too strong. He just didn’t want to go out—as if the mirror magically wanted him to stay.

And he stayed.

Face to face with his reflection, he didn’t even blink. Deep down, he hoped something would happen to him. 

Nothing changed. It was just him and his reflection in that quiet room.

The bell rang and Seungcheol ran out of the room as fast as he could.

 

***

“You look pale.” Seungkwan said when they were in the toilet.

Seungcheol shook his head, then washed his face. Being in Mr. Seo’s room made him exhausted and a bit frustrated. He was forced to sit calmly, couldn’t even move an inch under the surveillance.

Suddenly, Seungcheol screamed when he saw his reflection on the mirror. Everyone in the toilet was shocked, including Seungkwan.

“What’s wrong with you, Cheol-ah?”

He couldn’t say a word. Only his index finger pointed to the mirror. He was badly shaking. 

“That... that...,”

“That’s your own reflection. So?”

“No, it’s not!” he screamed. Everyone gathered around him to find out what was wrong with him.

Seungkwan grabbed his shoulders, forcing Seungcheol to look at him in the eyes, “Hey, are you okay? Let’s go to the infirmary. You’ve been acting strange after you went out of the headmaster’s office.”

“It’s not me! It’s not me!” He put his hands on the mirror’s surface, “This is not my face!”

Seungkwan exchanged looks with other friends, felt confused, “That’s your face, you dumb. Who do you think you are? A famous actor?”

“No, no, no, Seungkwan. Didn’t you see it? It’s not my face.”

Seungkwan asked for other friends’ opinions, “What do you see, guys?”

“Seungcheol’s face.”

“See? I told you, it’s your face! Come on, Cheol-ah. Let’s go to the infirmary. I don’t want anyone to think that you’ve gone mad. It’s enough you got one hashtag, #SeoCheol. You don’t need another one, like #CrazyCheol, honestly.”

He grabbed Seungkwan’s arms, “No, I told you, it’s not my face!” Then he ran out of the toilet.

"Seungcheol!" Seungkwan tried to walk beside him, "Let's skip class. No need to go to the infirmary, okay?"

"Okay, but please lend me a mirror."

***

Apparently, Seungkwan had the key to the school’s storage room. It was less crowded than other places in their school. 

Seungcheol was still busy looking at his face through the hand mirror he borrowed from his female classmate.

“So, what do you see?” Seungkwan asked.

“Someone else’s face.”

“I don’t understand. Is that person someone you know?”

“No.”

Seungkwan’s eyebrows furrowed, “So it means you see someone that you’ve never met before?”

“How did this happen?”

While looking at his reflection, Seungcheol traced his face, hair and lips. He paused for a while, before he blinked a few times, puckered his lips, and then smiled widely.

“I don’t know when this started. I saw myself in Mr. Seo’s mirror, it was still my face. But when I was in the toilet, everything has changed.”

“How is Mr. Seo’s mirror like, anyway?”

Seungcheol tried hard to remember everything about Mr. Seo’s antique mirror. What he could recall was nothing strange about that mirror. Only the unique carved frame and clear glass on its surface.

“Just an ordinary mirror. Full body-length with carved frame around it. Nothing weird.”

“If there’s nothing weird, then why are you hallucinating, seeing someone else’s face?”

“I’m not hallucinating, Seungkwan. My eyes are fine.” He looked so desperate, “Seungkwan, what happens to me?”

Seungkwan asked him to stay still, in front of the small mirror. He took Seungcheol’s image on the mirror using his cell phone, hoping that the reflection was not Seungcheol’s. They checked the result and it was still Seungcheol’s reflection that Seungkwan saw.

The only person who could see someone else’s face was Seungcheol.

“Arrgh! This doesn’t make any sense!” He almost dropped small mirror on his hand if Seungkwan didn’t catch it, “What if I can’t see my face anymore? What am I supposed to do to get my reflection back?”

Another unanswered question. 

***

At first, Seungcheol refused to go home. He was too scared to see his face in the mirror. The problem was, eighty percent of his house was covered by mirrors and windows. His father designed the house that way because he thought that mirrors could accentuate the wider effect for the house. That was the reason why Seungcheol hesitated to go home.

He walked slowly toward his house. It seemed too hard to move.

“I’m home.” he said. His mom answered him and told him to take a shower before having his dinner.

He bowed his head all the way to his room, which was on the second floor. His mom saw him looking so gloomy. She was suspicious.

“Something happened at school?” she asked.

“I’m just tired, Mom.”

“Take a shower and come here. Your dinner is waiting, Cheol-ah.”

He didn’t answer and walked to his room while closing his eyes. He knew there were mirrors on his left and right sides. His life was going to be a nightmare. His biggest fear was to see the bathroom’s mirror. It was as big as the hotel’s mirror, even towel couldn’t cover its surface. Impossible for him to close his eyes entire time he took a shower.

Seungcheol changed his uniform to his t-shirt. His eyes were still closed. Yet, his curiosity dominated him, made him finally opened his eyes to see his new appearance.

Clearly, it was not him. Slim figure, with a scar on the left arm. This unknown male was young—probably at the same age as he was. That bob cut hair framed his face perfectly, as if he was a model—this kind of haircut which was definitely forbidden in his school.

Those big brown orbs with long eyelashes that could hypnotize everyone who saw them. It was very uncommon for a male to have those beautiful eyes. Seungcheol touched his lips—the pair of red thin lips. Girls must be jealous of this person.

He then traced down to his breast, shoulders, tummy and he stopped. He felt uncomfortable eyeing another male body parts like that. He might not take a shower for a while, but he couldn’t control the urge to pee. Seungcheol panicked. What if he saw the private part of this person?

With his one eye opened, he finally peed. It turned out that only his reflection that has changed, but whenever he didn’t look at the mirror, his other body parts were still the same. Seungcheol’s body parts.

“Thank God...” he mumbled.

So, his next mission was to cover all mirrors on the second floor with bed sheets and towels, including the mirror in his bedroom. He took unused bed sheets and towels as many as he could. Meanwhile, his mom thought he was stressed because he was on the last grade of high school.

He was too busy covering the mirror, he didn’t hear his cell phone rang. It was Seungkwan.

“I’m with Jisoo at the cafe near your house.” Seungkwan said.

Seungcheol startled. Since when Seungkwan got closer to Jisoo?, “Wait... are you on a date with Jisoo?”

“No—dammit, no! We’re trying to figure out what happened to you.”

“Oh, sorry. I think you both are dating. So, any idea how to help me?”

“Jisoo hacked the CCTV and he found something. You should come here.”

“Now?”

“Yes! Now!”

He went to the cafe right away. He never thought that Seungkwan would do anything to help him, including spent his money to buy a glass of coffee.

“Hey, sorry I’m late. Been waiting long?” Seungcheol pulled the chair beside Seungkwan. He slightly nodded to Jisoo who didn’t even shift a bit. That guy stared at his laptop.

“I hacked Mr. Seo’s CCTV. Take a look at this.” Jisoo put his laptop in front of Seungcheol so that he could see, “You were staring at something but the CCTV didn’t capture it. Do you remember what you saw?”

Seungcheol saw himself staring blankly at the mirror for about five minutes.

“It was the mirror.”

“Really?”

“Yes. It was the mirror. I felt hypnotized by it.”

“Was it because the mirror is beautiful?” Jisoo wanted to make sure.

Seungcheol shook his head, “Trust me, it was just an ordinary mirror, but it felt like I was drawn into it.”

“Did you see someone else’s reflection?”

He thought a while before said no. Of course, those two were confused what made Seungcheol hallucinated.

“And you know what I saw? This person is indescribably beautiful, his skin is flawless and... and... he has thin lips. He really looks like an actor. He has a scar on his arm." He rolled up his sleeves to show the scar. Nobody could see the scar except Seungcheol. Realized that, Seungcheol pouted, “Sorry, I forgot you all can’t see it.”

“Stop acting cute, Cheol-ah. You’re not that beautiful man in the mirror.” said Seungkwan sarcastically.

Jisoo tried not to laugh hard seeing those two bickering.

“Anyway, what about going to Mr. Seo’s office right now?” That sudden idea came up to Seungcheol’s mind.

Jisoo and Seungkwan almost choked on their drink. It seemed that Seungcheol didn’t realize that his idea was shocking.

“Did I say something wrong? Jisoo can hack the CCTV, so if we go there now it won’t be a problem, right Jisoo?”

“Um, I’m not sure that’s a good idea. What if someone sees us? The security, maybe?”

“Just let me go inside, you two wait outside.” The expressions that Seungkwan and Jisoo showed, made Seungcheol worry, “Come on, guys. I want to know what happened to me. Please help me.”

***

They were in front of the school gate. Seungkwan blamed Seungcheol for asking them to wait there because he couldn’t handle the mosquito’s bite. Seungcheol come inside Mr. Seo’s office while they were two waiting.

Seungcheol looked at the school gate. This is the first time he was going to break the rules. His heart beat faster. It felt tense. All this time, his school life felt boring. So this could be the most adventurous moment in his life.

“Are you sure you can climb that gate? It’s quite high.” Seungkwan was worried. He knew his best friend was clumsy.

“Just see.” said Seungcheol, full of confidence. He started to climb the gate until he finally reached the top of it. He stopped for a while and when he looked down, he felt nauseous, “Guys, I wanna puke.”

“Dammit, Cheol-ah. You’re already on top of it and you can’t go down?”

“Should I jump?”

“Of course! You want to fly?” Seungkwan protested.

“Come on jump, Seungcheol-ssi. The longer we’re here, the higher possibility of being caught.” Jisoo told him.

Seungcheol braced himself to jump. Thank God he could land on the ground safely, without breaking his legs. He faced Seungkwan and Jisoo through the gate, “If I died this day, would you please erase all my porn movies from my laptop, guys?”

Seungkwan rolled his eyes, “Whatever.”

Jisoo held his laughter.

***

All students know that the keys for all rooms in the school were stored in the teacher’s room which was never locked. If someone wanted to do a crime, just took those keys in the teacher’s room. Those keys included Mr. Seo’s office.

Unlike Mr. Seo’s office that had CCTV on it, teacher’s room didn’t have one. Seungcheol could be freely walk around in the teacher’s room. Actually, he only needed five minutes to take the keys, but he wanted to do something to Gyeong-sunsangnim’s desk. He was the cruelest teacher. Once, Seungcheol was humiliated in front of the class by him, so Seungcheol spitted on his desk, then ran to Mr. Seo’s office.

Jisoo made sure that he turned off the CCTV. But when Seungcheol walked into the room, he didn’t see any mirror. He searched in every corner of the room, but that mirror couldn’t be found anywhere. Panicked, he called Seungkwan. His best friend was also panicked and rushed to Mr. Seo’s room.

“The mirror’s not here?” Seungkwan whispered as he opened the door.

“No, not here. I searched it everywhere. I mean... that mirror is big. It is noticeable.”

“Probably... Mr. Seo moved it to his house.”

“Oh shit.” Seungcheol ruffled his hair, “You know, we can’t just go to his house for the mirror.”

Usually he couldn’t think clearly about the exam, but all these things about the mirror were more difficult to solve than all of his exams combined.

“Should I go to the delivery service to ask where the antique store was?”

“And?”

“Maybe the store’s owner knows what actually happened to me and can help me solve this shit.”

“Yeah... maybe. It’s a waste of time if we try to find out something without knowing the source of the problem.”

“I agree! Then let’s continue tomorrow and—”

Suddenly, Seungkwan’s phone rang. It was from Jisoo.

“Guys... I think you’d better go out now. I saw a security guard checking all classrooms.”

They exchanged looks, “Run.”

Before the had time to run, someone’s footsteps were heard. They ducked under the desk to hide. The security guard didn’t even check Mr. Seo’s office. Seungcheol felt relieved, meanwhile Seungkwan was too scared to move out from under the desk.

“Hey, let’s go!” He grabbed Seungkwan’s hand and ran out of there.

Jisoo was still outside the gate. He was worried that his friends were caught by the security guard, in fact they didn’t.

“What about the mirror?” Jisoo asked.

“We’ll talk about it in my place.” said Seungcheol.

***

They were supposed to have a heated discussion about the mirror in Seungcheol’s room, but the truth they just sat there silently. Seungkwan looked paler than before and Jisoo kept quiet. Seungcheol stood up to put his blanket on the mirror.

“So... how was it?” It was Jisoo who talked first.

Seungcheol was too busy to put the selotape on the mirror and his blanket, “I’ll go to the antique store.”

“And then?”

“I’ll ask where that mirror came from and how to get my reflection back. Maybe people from the antique store can help.”

“What if no one knows?” Seungkwan finally spoke up.

“Oh,” Seungcheol just realized it. He stared at them one by one, “Probably I’ll stop seeing myself in the mirror.”

“Huh. Can you?” Seungkwan mocked him, “You said that person is beautiful. Why do you have to stop looking at yourself in the mirror? You should be thankful you don’t have to see Mr. Seo’s face.”

Seungcheol threw a pillow to Seungkwan, “He might be beautiful, but he’s a guy!”

The pillow didn’t hit Seungkwan, “But at least he’s beautiful, right?”

“ENOUGH!” Jisoo stopped them immediately before Seungcheol’s parents heard them yelling at each other. He gave a piece of paper and a pencil to Seungcheol, “Draw him. I might help you to find him in the police’s database.”

“Uh,” Seungkwan’s eyes widened, while Seungcheol just smiled.

It was a bad idea asking Seungcheol to draw.

“Jisoo-ssi, asking him to draw is like asking a kindergarten student to do a college student’s task.”

“Wha-what? I’m not that bad at drawing, Seungkwan-ah.” 

Jisoo knew nothing about Seungcheol, so he had no idea what they talked about, “I don’t understand.”

“Okay, just let him draw the face.”

After several minutes waiting for Seungcheol to draw his masterpiece, Jisoo ran out of his patience. He snatched the paper from Seungcheol’s hand to see the result.

The drawing of a circle with two smaller circles as the eyes, upside down number seven as the nose, and heart shaped lips with bob hair. Seungkwan burst out laughing, Jisoo lost his words.

“What the heck is that? An egg with bob hair?” Seungkwan’s comment was the best.

“Shut up. This is my masterpiece.”

“Jisoo-ssi, search that face on the police’s database. You’ll find the criminal’s face.”

Jisoo was too shocked to answer.

“I just... I just sleep then. Good night.” said Jisoo, giving up.

“Why is he angry?”

Seungcheol shrugged.

***

It might have the word ‘antique’ as its name, but surely the antique store looked quite modern, more like a furniture store. The antique goods that were displayed didn’t have the creepy feeling, unlike what Seungcheol has thought all these times.

Seungcheol, accompanied by Seungkwan, tried to find the owner of the store, but no one was there. Even after Seungkwan sang a song to attract the owner’s attention, no one answered.

“YOU!”

They jumped hearing the voice from their back. An old woman with white hair walked toward them. She wore all black. Seungcheol bowed a bit and then introduced himself. He asked about the antique mirror that was bought by Mr. Seo.

“I honestly don’t know what you are talking about, Young man. We sell many kinds of mirror. If you don’t have the picture, I can’t help.”

“Ma’am, we need your help. The owner is Mr. Seo Dalsoo, an old bald guy. You don’t remember? His look is so distinctive.”

“I don’t recall having a buyer like that.” She said.

“Please, try harder to remember. Mr. Seo asked the mirror to be sent to our school, Hyongu High School. Could you please check your receipt?” Seungcheol was so desperate, he bowed down. He really needed the woman’s help.

“Why do you ask about that wooden carved-frame mirror?”

“AHA! Finally, you remember about it!”

The woman huffed angrily, after she blurted out information about that mirror that hasn’t been mentioned by either Seungcheol or Seungkwan—the fact that the mirror had wooden carved-frame.

Seungcheol was pissed. The woman kept it secret even she knew that Seungcheol needed her help so bad. She took out a big book of the cashier’s drawer. It was a polaroid photo album as an inventory of all antique goods. She showed a polaroid picture of Mr. Seo’s antique mirror. When she wasn’t looking, Seungkwan took a picture of that polaroid with his phone. Seungcheol smiled proudly—he knew that Seungkwan would do whatever it takes to help him.

“Is it the mirror?”

“Yes, Ma’am. This is the mirror.”

Only five minutes she showed the polaroid picture before she put it back to the album, “So, what’s with that mirror?”

“Um, after I saw it, something weird happened to me. I started to see someone else’s reflection, not mine. What’s happening to me? Do you have any idea?”

A strange smile appeared in her face, she then answered, “So, you’ve been cursed?”

His body stiffened hearing the word ‘curse’. It was worse than being humiliated by Gyeong-sunsangnim. His legs trembled, he almost fell down. Seungkwan held his arms.

“What curse?”

“That person will also see your reflection.” She explained, “You must find that person or....”

“Or what?” 

Instead of telling the truth, that woman gave a vague answer, “I don’t know. You have to find the answer by yourself. As far as I know, no one could find their reflection ‘till the end of his life.”

“The end? Is he dead?” Seungcheol panicked.

“Probably. I can’t contact him anymore.”

Seungcheol fell on the floor, still trembling. He didn’t know what to do anymore. If he had to die, at least he died with after he got his reflection back. He didn’t even know why he was the one who got cursed. He did nothing wrong!

Seungkwan begged, kneeled in front of the woman, “Please, please help my friend.” He also didn’t want his best friend die young. He had already imagined Seungcheol as his best man on the wedding. If Seungcheol died, who would be his best man? Damn, why would Seungkwan think about his wedding?

“No. I can’t help you.”

“Please, I can pay. How much money do you want?” Seungcheol took out a credit card from his wallet. His father gave him, in case something urgent came up. This was something urgent, so he could use it anyway.

“Young man, don’t be so arrogant. I don’t need your money.”

“But I really need your help... Please, whatever you need, I’ll give it to you.”

“I need nothing.”

Seungkwan was so mad that his best friend being treated like rubbish. He helped Seungcheol to stand up, “Cheol-ah, let’s go.”

“No, no. Let go of me, Seungkwan. Please.” He still begged her. He left his phone number on a piece of paper, “If you change your mind, please call me. Please....”

The woman didn’t say anything.

“Come on, Seungcheol-ah, we have to go.” 

They left the antique store without bringing any result.

 

 

To be continued.


End file.
